Fireweed 400 champs repeat victories

Racers smile as they head towards the finish line during Saturday’s Fireweed 400 bicycle race.

The tenth annual Fireweed 400 brought 650 racers to Valdez from around the world last weekend to compete in several different bicycle race categories. But, the winner’s circles in the solo division were the same as last year. Palmer riders Erik Christensen and Kristen Wolf repeated as champions in the 400-mile race, which spans from the Sheep Mountain Lodge to Valdez and back.

Christensen turned in a time slower than last year. He crossed the finish line with a time of 26:42:33. Last year, he won the men’s solo time trial with a time of 23:42:39. Wolf was the lone racer in the women’s solo time trial. She managed to shed some minutes from her previous win, finishing this year’s course with a time of 25:11:51. Wolf won the race last year with a time of 25:34:25.

In the event’s largest category, no one broke any records in the 200-mile solo time trials. Peter Jackson won the men’s title with a time of 10:42:47. There were no entries in this year’s women’s solo time trial.